Towards an environmentally sustainable rental housing sector

Abstract

Rental houses in Australia represent approximately one third of all homes, and this proportion has been growing over recent decades. However, the quality, comfort and environmental credentials of these houses are often poor, particularly when compared to owner-occupied homes. With climate change, the urgency increases to move to a more sustainable built environment. Consequently, exploring how to make rental properties more sustainable warrants further investigation and action. Using data gathered from a broad range of experts through a four-stage Policy Delphi technique, findings reveal four key enabling forces: communication, facilitation, incentivization, and regulation. These forces both influence and are influenced by rental market conditions. A conceptual framework is presented which highlights the interplay between the stakeholders and enabling forces, which has the potential to lead to a Win-Win-Win scenario for landlords, tenants and the environment. With a clear social and environmental imperative to move to a more sustainable rental sector, this research presents a pathway to reach this goal.

Keywords:

• Private rental sector
• sustainable housing
• climate change
• retrofitting
• Policy Delphi
• Australia

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the research participants for their time and insights. This paper has been substantially improved as a result of the constructive comments of the three anonymous reviewers, who we would like to thank.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Troy W. Heffernan

Troy W. Heffernan is an Associate Professor and Discipline Group Lead for Marketing in the Faculty of Business at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He has authored 30 journal publications, 3 book chapters, 1 research book and over 30 international conference pre-sentations examining a range of issues relating to marketing and higher education. Currently, his research focuses on human behaviour in relation to climate change, and communication of and solutions for climate change.

Emma E. Heffernan

Troy W. Heffernan is an Associate Professor and Discipline Group Lead for Marketing in the Faculty of Business at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He has authored 30 journal publications, 3 book chapters, 1 research book and over 30 international conference pre-sentations examining a range of issues relating to marketing and higher education. Currently, his research focuses on human behaviour in relation to climate change, and communication of and solutions for climate change.

Emma E. Heffernan is a Senior Lecturer in Architectural Engineering at the University of Wollongong in the School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, she researches within the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre. Her research interests include a circular construction economy, energy efficient design in residential buildings, sustainable construction, and policy for a sustainable built environment.

Nina Reynolds

Troy W. Heffernan is an Associate Professor and Discipline Group Lead for Marketing in the Faculty of Business at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He has authored 30 journal publications, 3 book chapters, 1 research book and over 30 international conference pre-sentations examining a range of issues relating to marketing and higher education. Currently, his research focuses on human behaviour in relation to climate change, and communication of and solutions for climate change.

Nina Reynolds is a Professor of Marketing at the Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong and a Co-Director of the Centre for Responsible Organisations and Practices, a Faculty research centre. Her research interests include consumption and individual/social wellbeing (e.g., antimicrobial consumption related to Antimicrobial Resistance), and consumers’ use of technology.

Wai Jin (Thomas) Lee

Troy W. Heffernan is an Associate Professor and Discipline Group Lead for Marketing in the Faculty of Business at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He has authored 30 journal publications, 3 book chapters, 1 research book and over 30 international conference pre-sentations examining a range of issues relating to marketing and higher education. Currently, his research focuses on human behaviour in relation to climate change, and communication of and solutions for climate change.

Wai Jin (Thomas) Lee is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Wollongong in the School of Management, Operations and Marketing. His research interests include brand management, marketing strategy and consumer behaviour. He has published in journals such as European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, and Journal of Service Theory and Practice, among others.

Paul Cooper

Troy W. Heffernan is an Associate Professor and Discipline Group Lead for Marketing in the Faculty of Business at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He has authored 30 journal publications, 3 book chapters, 1 research book and over 30 international conference pre-sentations examining a range of issues relating to marketing and higher education. Currently, his research focuses on human behaviour in relation to climate change, and communication of and solutions for climate change.

Paul Cooper is a Senior Professor and the Director of the University of Wollongong’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC). Paul has been involved in a wide variety of research topics over the past thirty five years, including sustainable buildings, energy systems, energy efficiency and fluid mechanics. He was heavily involved in the design and development of the award-winning, net-zero energy SBRC building, and was Faculty Advisor and the lead academic on the Team UOW Solar Decathlon China 2013 campaign.